Thursday, October 11, 2012

Goodbye Plastic - Kitchen Update

So in my Goodbye Plastic post I mentioned that I was going to first start clearing out the kitchen...and boy did I! I made some other "green" changes as I was going through as well. Since I was bringing in more glassware, I needed to move those up and keep the non-breakables down...for when Avery starts rummaging through the drawers. Otherwise, I'll be putting child locks on a couple of them.

1) The fridge went through the most change. We're no longer storing food in plastic if we can help it. I purchased the glass dishes from the Container Store...and we love them! The snap down lids are very secure and the food stays fresher longer. And we no longer have to worry about staining or transferring the food to a microwave-safe container.

2) We were purchasing milk in the usual plastic jugs...and transfering them immediately to the glass pitchers (1 gallon is split into the two). This bugged me... because the milk was still sitting on the store shelf in plastic. So I did some research. One of our local grocers actually sells milk from a local dairy in glass jugs. They are tad pricier upfront...but if you return the bottle you get $1.50 back in deposit. So that's what we're doing now. The seal on the pitchers I bought is amazing! Keeps the milk a lot longer...and this new milk actually tastes better. Let's be honest though, these jugs are the cutest lil things!

3) The juice pitchers are super light! I kind of expected a heavier glass...so I'm a little timid about how long they will last... but the reviews were good and they weren't expensive at all. They actually came with four glasses each too. (bonus!)

I'm also trying to transition to bottled soda too (haha...why did I write soda?! We say 'pop' `round these parts!!) Anywho, the bottled pop is a little bit pricier...but we really don't drink all that much. I'm a cream soda junkie during the summer months, while Matt's addiction to Coca Cola lasts all year...{sigh}

4) The freezer also has some new stuff going on. Avery recently started eating solid foods and we make our own baby food. After pureeing a fruit or veggie we put them in a stainless steel ice cube tray. Once set, we pop them out and into one of the glass dishes I mentioned above (did I mention they were freezer safe?!)... yeah, so Avery eats about two cubes of each per meal and they taste way better than store bought jar food...trust me, I've tried them! :)

Sometimes while I'm cooking I'll open up my cupboards and cringe... literally cringe. I think about how organized I like to keep my spaces and I just see "EPIC FAIL" written all over this.

The biggest annoyance is the tupperware. It was just frustrating trying to reach the ones in the back and the lids would get in the way... ugh. So I decided to switch these two cupboards. I needed more room (no center divider) for the casserole dishes and glass bowls. The plastic tupperware was coming out and half to my sister's place...other half to the basement to be used for craft storage. (when Avery starts using crayons, markers, etc)
I had used these stainless steel rack organizers when I redid my pots & pans cabinet. I loved them so much I bought more to keep the casserole dishes in check!
Loving the cabinets now... everything has a place..and it stays neat!

Things were getting a little cluttered.. I had two containers full of utensils, an abundance of appliances...and we were beginning to have areas of down-right hoarding! It was a bit much for my taste. So I scaled down. The appliances we didn't use as often I stored away either in the pantry or on a storage shelf in the basement.

While I was fighting with the paper towel holder that's always broken, I remembered the paper-less challenge from Clean Mama. She decided to give up paper towels and use bar towels. Ah... I love it! So I ran out to Target and bought a couple bundles and a cute glass jar to store them in. The towels will be used in the kitchen where we would have used paper towels. The patterned towels are for drying dishes. There's another one on the stove for hand drying. At the end of the day they go into the hamper.
(Note: I do keep a roll of paper towels under the sink...just in case.)

So the kitchen is done for now. It's been a few months since we made the official switch over and all is well. We're really happy with this decision. :)

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"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7